1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of mop wringers. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of hand-operated self-wringing mops.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, self-wringing mops are currently being used in general households and ordinary businesses or institutions. These prior art mops are hand-operated. One of the disadvantages is that the effectiveness of the prior art self-wringing mops depends on the strength of the user. To drain the mop more effectively, the user needs to rotate the wringer handle firmly. In other words, how firmly the wringer handle is rotated depends on how hard the user rotates the wringer handle to squeeze the water out from the mop. A user with less strength often has to repeat the operation several times to drain the mop as desired. Another disadvantage with prior art self-wringing mops is that once the wringer handle is rotated to a position where the water is squeezed out from the mop, and if the user releases the wringer handle, the mop tends to unwind by itself and will return to its initial position. The user will often need to rotate the wringer handle repeatedly to drain the mop as desired.
These drawbacks of the prior art self-wringing mops are very undesirable for people with less physical strength, especially elderly people. Even for people with normal strength, the awkward and laborious operation of repeatedly rotating the wringer handle to squeeze the water out from the mop increases their fatigue very rapidly.
The following thirteen (13) prior art patents were uncovered in the pertinent field of the present invention:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 1,126,887 issued to Scott on Feb. 2, 1915 for "Self Wringing Mop" (hereafter "the Scott Patent");
2. U.S. Pat. No. 1,475,083 issued to Portner on Nov. 20, 1923 for "Mop Wringer" (hereafter "the Portner Patent");
3. U.S. Pat. No. 1,494,871 issued to Watkins et al. on May 20, 1924 for "Mop And Wringer" (hereafter "the Watkins Patent");
4. U.S. Pat. No. 1,924,817 issued to Tatter on Aug. 29, 1933 for "Combined Mop And Mop Wringer" (hereafter "the Tatter Patent");
5. U.S. Pat. No. 1,937,141 issued to Carlson on Nov. 28, 1933 for "Mop" (hereafter "the Carlson Patent");
6. U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,502 issued to Fatland on Jan. 2, 1940 for "Wringer Mop" (hereafter "the Fatland Patent");
7. U.S. Pat. No. 2,042,892 issued to Granger on Jun. 2, 1936 for "Mop" (hereafter "the Granger Patent");
8. U.S. Pat. No. 2,230,101 issued to Bakemeier on Jan. 28, 1941 for "Mop Holder And Wringer" (hereafter "the Bakemeier Patent");
9. U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,846 issued to Johnson on Jan. 31, 1950 for "Combined Mop And Wringer Head" (hereafter "the Johnson Patent");
10. U.S. Pat. No. 3,278,977 issued to Makar on Oct. 18, 1966 for "Automobile Washing Mop Employing Twistable Mop Head" (hereafter "the '977 Maker Patent");
11. U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,369 issued to Makar on Aug. 8, 1967 for "Self-Wringing Mop" (hereafter "the '369 Maker Patent");
12. U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,650 issued to Aasland on Dec. 18, 1979 for "Self-Wringing Mop" (hereafter "the Aasland Patent");
13. U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,278 issued to Heinonen on Oct. 30, 1984 for "Scrubbing Means" (hereafter "the Heinonen Patent").
The Watkins Patent discloses a mop and wringer. It comprises a handle and a collar loosely mounted upon the handle. The collar comprises a strand holding device for holding strands from the mop and a grip portion for facilitating movement of the collar in the longitudinal direction.
The Tatter Patent discloses a combined mop and mop wringer. It comprises two housing portions wherein each housing portion has a spherical seat which forms a bearing seat for the spherical surface on each of the gears. The gears are located on opposite sides of the pinion gear which mesh and operate by means of the gear teeth on the pinion gear and the gear teeth on the gears.
The Carlson Patent discloses a mop. It comprises a handle and a sleeve-like head mounted on the handle for longitudinal sliding and rotating movements. A swab-holding clamp has a pair of relatively fixed arms and releasibly secured diametrically opposite radial arms on the head. A pair of cooperating relatively movable spring arms are hingeably connected to one of the fixed arms and releasibly secured to the other of the fixed arms with the handle extending therebetween.
The Fatland Patent discloses a wringer mop. It comprises a handle, a head, a cloth and a rod for wringing the cloth.
The Granger Patent discloses a mop. It comprises a hollow elongated handle and a clamping element for clamping one end of the mop on the lower end of the handle. A rod is slidable and turnable in the handle and projects from the same at both ends.
The Bakemeier Patent discloses a mop holder and wringer. It comprises a handle with a groove and a sleeve slidably mounted on the handle. The sleeve has a member travelling in the groove of the handle where the handle is caused to rotate by the travel of the member on the sleeve.
The Johnson Patent discloses a combined mop and wringer head. It comprises a tubular handle and a plunger which is slidably mounted in the handle.
The '977 Makar Patent discloses an automobile washing mop employing a twistable mop head.
The '369 Makar Patent discloses a self-wringing mop. It utilizes a bevel gear on a crankshaft for manual rotation.
The Aasland Patent discloses a self-wringing mop. It comprises a head which is attached to a handle and a mop holder for holding a mop unit with a crank carried by the head which can be turned for wringing the mop.
The Heinonen Patent discloses scrubbing means. It comprises a shaft with an outer tube and within this a movable inner shaft, the outer tube and the inner shaft being provided with fixing heads and a mop. The fixing head of the inner shaft comprises a seat unrotatable with reference to the shaft and opening in cup fashion in the direction of the fixing head. A locking body is locked within the seat by means of threads on the outside of the locking body and threads in the inner surface of the seat. The part of the locking body projecting from the seat constitutes a shoulder border spreading out to the sides and behind which the mop has been affixed with the aid of an annular tie member so that the mop threads run between the border and the seat when the tie has been wound around the locking body between the shoulder border and the seat.
Therefore, it is highly desirable to have a new and improved self-wringing mop which can overcome the shortcomings of the prior art self-wringing mops. It is desirable have an improved quick squeezing self-wringing mop where a spring-and-ratchet mechanism can be used to lock and unlock the wringer handle from rotation and can be quickly released by a press of a button. There is a significant need for an improved quick squeezing self-wringing mop which is easy to use, especially for elderly people without much strength and where the spring-and-ratchet mechanism maintains the rotational position of the wringer handle.